The Utah Supreme Court earlier this month overturned a request by the toddler's adoptive parents to stay a lower court's December order that the child be returned to Achane, her father.

On Friday the original trial judge, Darold McDade who ruled in Achane's favor, held a transfer hearing that resulted in the little girl and her father being united this weekend for the first time since she was born 22 months ago.

"This is the first known case where the Utah State Supreme Court has removed a child from an [adoptive parent's] home and returned the child to the ... legal father," said Achane's lawyer Mark Wiser.

Wiser called the Supreme Court's ruling a "huge victory" for "equal parental rights," meaning one parent can't put a child up for adoption without the other's permission, and decried the adoption practice in Utah.

"Terry Achane believes that justice is finally taking place," Wiser said, adding that his client remains "heartbroken that he has missed 22 months of his daughter's life because of what happened. This is time that he and his daughter can never replace."

Achane, 31, was stationed in South Carolina on March 21, 2011, when his estranged wife, Tira Bland, gave birth in Utah and turned the baby over for adoption just two days later.

He initially believed that his pregnant wife had followed through on a threat to have an abortion. It was several weeks after the baby, whom he calls Teleah, was born that he learned the child had been adopted and was in Utah.

When Achane contacted the adoption agency that had facilitated the baby's placement with the couple, Jared and Kristi Frei, he was stonewalled, denied information and ignored when he told them he had not consented to the adoption, according to his lawyer.

In his ruling to restore Achane's custody, Judge McDade said he was "astonished and deeply troubled" by the actions of the agency, the Adoption Center of Choice, calling its treatment of Achane "utterly indefensible."

According to Achane, Bland gave the agency Achane's old address in Texas where he lived prior to being stationed in South Carolina, and suggested he would not consent to the adoption. The agency attempted to contact him once in Texas, but seems not to have made any other efforts to receive his consent, Wiser said.

The agency would not comment.

Achane knew Bland was pregnant and had taken her to prenatal doctor appointments in Texas, but Bland cut off all contact with him following his deployment to South Carolina and made arrangements for the adoption in secret, he lawyer claims in court documents.

Calls to the Freis were not returned. In an emails to ABCNews.com, their lawyer Larry Jenkins wrote: "The Freis have asked us not to comment publicly about the case."

The Freis, however, have maintained a blog about the case where they claim that Achane "left [Bland] without any money, a car, or details of his whereabouts. Needing to act quickly for the best interest of her unborn child, and with incredible faith, fortitude, and courage, she put her child up for adoption."

In 2008, Kristi Frei was diagnosed with endometriosis and told she would not be able to conceive, according to the blog.

The Freis insist that it was they who tracked down Achane "several months" after adopting the baby, whom they call Leah, but to "our great shock and dismay" he refused to consent to the adoption.

The judge said in his ruling, however, that the couple knew that Achane had never been consulted and "acknowledged this risk but decided they wanted to proceed forward with the adoptive placement anyway."

Recommended for You

A kindhearted stranger has paid off more than $900 in overdue lunch balances for students at an elementary school in Herminie, Pennsylvania. "We're calling him our 'Secret Santa,'" said Amy Larcinese, principal of HW Good Elementary School.

When the Ugly Christmas Sweater Shop in Dallas, Texas, decided to expand and open new locations this year, its owner took an unconventional approach to hiring new employees. He had them submit a video of their best dance moves, reported ABC affiliate WFAA in Dallas. "We found a lot of great people

A dinosaur tail preserved in amber has been discovered for the first time ever, researchers announced on Thursday in a paper published in the scientific journal Cell Biology. The feather-covered tail is from a dinosaur that lived on Earth about 99 million years ago, according to a news release from

A woman with a double amputation was left lying on the ground for several minutes after she fell off her wheelchair while being arrested at a gas station in Miami-Dade County, Florida, according to videos captured by witnesses and a police officer's body camera. The woman who was arrested -- 52-

A 4-year-old California girl battling leukemia took over the city of Sacramento today as Make-A-Wish transformed her into a princess for a day. Alyla Stamp, 4, of Yuba City, California, was surprised this morning with a trip to a Macy’s department store in Sacramento where she received her princess

As locals near Washington, D.C.’s Comet Pizza restaurant know too well, fake news headlines can have real-world implications. Edgar Welch allegedly fired three shots at the local hotspot after driving 350 miles from North Carolina in order to investigate a fake news story that the pizzeria was home

The former boyfriend of Anastasia Duval, whose twin sister, Alexandria Duval, has been charged with murdering her -- after an SUV driven by Alexandria plunged off a cliff in Hawaii in May -- has given his first TV interview, during which he described the pair's tenuous relationship. Alexandria Duval

T.J. Miller, the host of the Critics’ Choice Awards, was arrested early this morning on a battery charge only two days before the live show airs. Police arrested the HBO “Silicon Valley” actor after officers responded to the 6900 block of Camrose Drive in Los Angeles at 1 a.m. where a car company driver

Stepping onto this Pittsburgh city bus is like taking a ride on Santa’s sleigh.For more than a decade, driver Bill Sanfilippo has decked out his bus in head-to-toe Christmas decorations.“People love it. It puts a smile on their face,” the 12-year veteran of Allegheny County Port Authority told ABC News.Every

In July, Taylor Swift hosted a big Independence Day party, and both Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively attended. One photo in particular stuck out of Reynolds, Lively, Swift, her then-beau Tom Hiddleston, and another couple. All had big smiles on their faces, but Reynolds had a pretty lackluster look.

Behold, the chocolate chip taco cookie with chocolate peppermint mousse. It's the whimsical culinary creation of celebrated chef David Burke and ABC News' "Good Morning America" went inside the kitchen at his newest New York City restaurant, Tavern 62, and learned how to make the holiday

President Obama has ordered a "full review" of what the intelligence community has called Russian hacking activity related to the 2016 election and expects to receive the report before he leaves office, a senior White House official said today. “The president has directed the intelligence

Actor Ryan Gosling discussed his upcoming musical "La La Land," and his own personal experience of moving to Los Angeles to follow his dreams in an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today. "You know, it's not easy to leave your hometown and your family and

African-American model Deddeh Howard is on a mission to change the fashion industry, one revolutionary image at a time. Howard posted photos of herself recreating ad campaigns, such as Kendall Jenner for Calvin Klein, Gigi Hadid for Guess and Kate Moss for David Yurman, in a project she called “Black

A woman accused of murdering her twin sister by driving their vehicle off a cliff in Hawaii waived her right to an extradition hearing in a New York court this morning. Alexandria Duval, 38, entered the Albany County courtroom in shackles, a yellow jumpsuit and with her long blonde hair pulled back.

The first trailer for "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is here and there's a lot to take in, including a new villain, a new suit, new friend and ... new lady loves? The clip, which premiered last night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," opens with Spidey doing what he does best. Next, we take

In fact, Helen and Al Giugliano are hilariously irate as Gabriella Rutigliano treks to class as she's studying nursing at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. The two, who now reside in Hauppauge, New York, have four daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren between them

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced today that Florida is now clear of locally-transmitted Zika for the first time since July. Since the Zika outbreak was announced in the state, four zones of ongoing Zika transmission had been identified and subsequently cleared in recent months. Today the last &quot

Celine Dion is celebrating the holidays for the first time without her late husband, René Angélil.Angélil, who had also been Dion's manager for decades and her husband since 1994, passed away Jan. 14 after a long battle with throat cancer. He died two days before his 74th birthday.Dion told the New